Hatfields: Shock as 101-year-old Sheffield Jaguar dealer announces closure

A historic Sheffield Jaguar dealer is closing because the cars are going electric and the site is ‘simply not capable of taking that leap into the future’.

Hatfields on Sharrow Vale Road is being merged into the Wakefield business from October 1 when Wakefield will become the ‘physical point of representation’.

In a shock letter to customers, managing director Gareth Williams said the site’s facilities, size and accessibility ‘have been an issue for far too long’.

‘Many’ of the people will be moving to Wakefield, he added, but did not say how many, or whether there would be redundancies. Its website profiles 11 white-collar workers but no mechanics or back room staff.

Hatfields was established by Ernest Hatfield in Sheffield in 1922 and claims to be the oldest Jaguar car retailer in the UK. Today it is an independent, family-run business with nine locations in Yorkshire, the North West and Shropshire.

Mr Williams wrote: “As long as there have been Jaguars, Hatfields have been selling and servicing them, and we look forward to taking care of our Jaguar clients for many more years.

“However, our facility in Sheffield is simply not capable of taking that leap into the future. It has been a great servant to the people of Sheffield for over 40 years and there have been some truly memorable events in our Sharrow Vale Road showrooms launching and celebrating iconic cars.”

Jaguar will be an ‘all-electric luxury brand by 2025’, which Mr Williams described as 'the biggest change we have ever seen'.